Lightest 26” bike parts? V brakes? 3x9?

[ExpertBlay]

1999 Specialized S-Works FSR XC M4

After chatting to Jeroen from the mtbmuseum last night he has inspired me to rebuild this bike into a ridiculously lightweight one like his haha! This means it won’t be a replica of my dads bike anymore but I will keep the parts just incase I want to swap them all over again which is no biggy!

So….what are the lightest 26” bike parts you can buy?? RETRO

I think I’ll keep my dads original extralite stem on the bike as I don’t think I’ll find one lighter, I was looking online last night after talking to Jeroen and I found some v brake levers that were 23g each, not too pricey either at £90 a pair, if you was to purchase the actual v brakes themselves I think that was around £300+ so I don’t think sticking with the XTR’s that are already on it would be a bad thing. But at the same time I’ll be attempting to make it as light as possible so I probably will change the v brakes too.

I know v brakes won’t make a massive difference but that will be the start of a long and pricey rebuild, I don’t even think I’ll have it finished for Christmas and I certainly won’t have it finished for the summer….maybe if I win the lottery?

Thought I’d add some photos of Jeroen’s bike so you can get an idea of why I’m doing it. Jeroen has customise his rear dropouts to sliding ones for other reasons but I will NOT be doing that as I like to keep the main things original, I don’t think my one will be as light as Jeroen’s (at 7.9kg!) but I can give it a good go!

 

[ishaw]

Weight can be shed almost anywhere. Ti bolts on the frame to replace the steel ones would be a start.

V brakes, I think kcnc vb1 brakes and levers are very light, though with great lightness comes great flexibility, well I think the levers are a bit lightweight, but the brakes themselves are really nice. Avid ultimates, mags, or sls are also pretty light. Nothing wrong with the xtr imho.

BBS can weigh a lot, as can cranks. Cassette and chain, tyres.

Pretty much everywhere can be made lighter really with the right parts and a wallet full of cash.

 

[ExpertBlay]

Weight can be shed almost anywhere. Ti bolts on the frame to replace the steel ones would be a start.

V brakes, I think kcnc vb1 brakes and levers are very light, though with great lightness comes great flexibility, well I think the levers are a bit lightweight, but the brakes themselves are really nice. Avid ultimates, mags, or sls are also pretty light. Nothing wrong with the xtr imho.

BBS can weigh a lot, as can cranks. Cassette and chain, tyres.

Pretty much everywhere can be made lighter really with the right parts and a wallet full of cash.

Yeah that’s a good idea, pretty sure Jeroen replaced his bolts etc and also v brake bosses, just got to find somewhere that stocks them, v brake bosses I would’ve thought are easy to get but the pivot bolts may be harder.

Have you got a set of those KCNC v brakes Ian? Or any idea the difference in weight between XTR and the VB1’s?

 

[ExpertBlay]

Any ideas on forks too?

Has to be a sus fork.

Anything lighter then a SID SL? My old ones were 1,200 grams.

 

[hamster]

XTR is light but other mainstream brands are lighter: Avid 25 brakes, Sugino Mighty 900 cranks for example.
Personally I'd avoid Ti bolts on the front brakes, but fitting a slotted machine screw with only 6 complete threads engaged saves a lot of weight.

Also, there is no need for excess seatpost inside the frame!

 

[rentedmule]

I remember reading magazine articles about 20 lb FSR XC builds back in the day.

I'm doing a weight-weenie build on my Y33. I ordered a set of brake levers similar to the KCNC's you pictured and they showed up bent with the barrel adjusters cross-threaded. They were insanely light but felt uber fragile. I have Paul Love Levers on another bike - still very light but solid.

Not sure on exact weight but I run a Judy SL with Englund TotalAir cartridges and a Judy FSX brace. Supposedly a very light setup, but I've never weighed it.

Wheels and tires can shed huge weight. I run Rolf Propel's with Tubolito tubes and Kenda Klimax tires. The tubes are crazy expensive (for tubes) but shed lots of weight and the tires are only 345g. There are even lighter tires available but I can't recall brands.

A Ti bottom bracket will shed a few hundred grams. I run Middleburn cranks on my Y but Raceface Next LP's are one of the lightest cranksets that are readily available used.

I run a XTR titanium cassettes on a few bikes. The weight difference over a standard steel cassette is really noticeable.

My Y33 is about 22.5 lbs with a cheap steel BB and XTR M950 drivetrain.

 

[ExpertBlay]

After having another look online it looks like both KCNC VB1`s weigh the same as 1 XTR v brake.
Maybe it is worth the upgrade although I probably won`t even tell the difference.

 

[jimwise68]

Convert it to a unicycle. You will halve the weight

 

[ExpertBlay]

Convert it to a unicycle. You will halve the weight

Lol, would be the coolest unicycle around

 

[otherself]

I concur with Ti BB and Middleburns, or Raceface late 90's cranks.

Other late 90's stuff:

Dura Ace 7700 road cassette (9 speed).
Avid Speed dial Ultimate v-brake levers.
Avid Single Digit Mag v-brakes.
Klein Stratum 90 handlebars or Moots Carbon
Vetta TT Ti saddle or Selle Italia mythos
USE Alien seatpost

Gettin' some wood typing this stuff.